SilverLight
by The Song of Rain
Summary: A silver kit is born in Thunderclan in the middle of leaf-bare. She is unusually intelligent and naturally talented but is part of a prophecy that the clan leader believes to mean that she will bring ruin. The Thunderclan leader attempts to kill her as a kit and leaves her to die but she is found by a group of rogues who save her. As she grows up, she vows revenge upon the clans...
1. Thunderclan Allegiances and Prologue

Silver Light

Thunderclan Allegiances

Leader: Birchstar-Brown tabby tom with amber eyes

Deputy: Leaftail-Pretty brown and white-furred she-cat with amber eyes

Medicine cat: Dewberry- Grey she-cat with white paws and underbelly and blue eyes

Apprentice, Honeypaw- Golden she-cat with green eyes

WARRIORS

Firestorm- Orange tom with green eyes

Apprentice, Featherpaw

Nightclaw- Black she-cat with amber eyes

Apprentice-Rockpaw

Snowpelt- White and grey she-cat with green eyes

Mousetail- Brown tom with blue eyes

Blueclaw- Blue furred she-cat with light blue eyes

Apprentice-Lionpaw

Flowertail- Dappled tortoiseshell she-cat with amber eyes

Apprentice-Deerpaw

Barkclaw- Dark brown tom with amber eyes

Cedarwhisker-Black tom with white paws and amber eyes

Sparrowwing-Light brown tom with blue eyes

Fleetfoot-Dark brown tom with green eyes

Talonclaw-Black tom with dark orange eyes

QUEENS

Mistheart- Silver she-cat with green eyes

Sweetrose-Golden she-cat with blue eyes

Skygaze-She-cat with short grey fur and teal eyes

APPRENTICES

Featherpaw- Long-furred white she-cat with amber eyes

Lionpaw-Golden tom with blue eyes

Rockpaw-Gray tom with dark blue eyes

Deerpaw-Light brown she-cat with green eyes

KITS

Silverkit-Silver she-kit with green eyes and grey markings in her fur

Nettlekit-Brown tom with amber eyes and fur that sticks up

Pinekit-Brown she-kit with green eyes

ELDERS

Hazelclaw-Brown tabby she-cat with blue eyes

Sunfur-Cream-furred tom with amber eyes

PROLOGUE

It was moon-high and the only sound to be heard in the Thunderclan camp was the rustling of dry leaves in the leaf-bare breeze and the soft snoring of a few cats. A silver furred she-cat sat at the entrance of the nursery, gazing at the silent camp. She wrapped her plumy tail around her swollen belly and sighed. Leaf-bare was a bad time to be expecting kits. But nevertheless, the kits would be born and she would become a mother. Lost in her thoughts, she failed to notice the golden she-cat who had emerged from the nursery.

"Can't get to sleep, Mistheart?", asked the golden she-cat cordially.

Mistheart shook her head. "I can feel the kits and I just couldn't get to sleep," she murmured.

"You're worried that you and your kits are going to be a burden in this leaf-bare aren't you, Mistheart?" questioned the golden she-cat as she gazed at the candle-coloured orb hanging in the sky.

"Leaf-bare is one of the worst times for kits to be born after all, Sweetrose," sighed Mistheart.

"Kits are always a blessing no matter when they are born and we could always do with more warriors," Sweetrose pointed out gently.

Mistheart suddenly gave a gasp and crumpled to the ground.

Sweetrose turned to look at the writhing queen, bewildered.

"The kits, they're coming," she hissed and gave a screech of pain.

"I'll be back. Hold on," mewed Sweetrose as she raced towards the medicine cat den.

"Dewberry, come quick! Mistheart's having her kits!" she mewed, her voice flooded with urgency.

A gray and white she-cat rose immediately, followed by a smaller golden she-cat. They bounded over to the nursery.

Meanwhile, Mistheart was in the nursery, screeching in pain. By now, most of the clan was awake and anxiously staring at the nursery. Barkclaw was outside the nursery arguing with Honeypaw about letting him in.

"No one can enter, Barkclaw. Not even you," mewed Honeypaw as the dark brown tom was practically climbing over her to get into the nursery.

"I need to see her," he growled.

Honeypaw was about to reply when Sweetrose popped her head out of the nursery.

"Mistheart is in safe paws, Barkclaw and all this noise is helping no one," mewed the golden she-cat firmly.

Barkclaw conceded and took to pacing outside the nursery until after what seemed like moons later, Dewberry finally let him in.

He shot over to Mistheart's side the second the words were out of Dewberry's mouth.

His heart melted as he saw an exhausted Mistheart gently licking three scraps of fur that were nuzzling at her belly.

"They're perfect, Mistheart," he whispered.

Mistheart nodded. "We should name them now," she murmured.

Barkclaw turned his attention back to the kits. Two of them were she-kits and one was a tom, Dewberry had said. One of the she-kits and the tom had dark brown fur, not unlike Barkclaw's. The other she-kit was a spitting image of Mistheart with silver fur and grey markings.

"How about Nettlekit for the tom? His fur sticks up like nettles," said Barkclaw. "And maybe Pinekit for the brown she-kit?"

"Those are lovely names, Barkclaw," whispered Mistheart. "What do you think about Silverkit for the last one?" asked Mistheart.

"Perfect," replied Barkclaw.

Sweetrose approached them. "Let Mistheart get some sleep, Barkclaw. Can't you see that she's exhausted?"

Barkclaw grudgingly agreed and headed to the warriors den after bidding the two queens a goodnight.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "One of the kits is named Silverkit, Birchstar," mewed Dewberry, her eyes betraying the worry in the usually placid medicine cat.

"She may not be the one but we should still keep an eye on her. Thank you for telling me this, Dewberry," Birchstar mewed.

Dewberry nodded and left Birchstar's den. She gazed at silverpelt.

"Please don't let it happen, Starclan," whispered Dewberry before retreating to the medicine cat's den.

There was absolute silence as every cat, even the newborn kits were fast asleep.

A gentle breeze rustled the leaves in the Thunderclan camp and it seemed to whisper, as though telling a secret, "A silver star shall rise in the dark and in the darkness of night, she will start a spark. The slumbering army will wake and blood will run red in the lake."

Moonlight filtered through the entrance of the nursery, falling on the silver kit's fur and it lit up her fur, making her look like a star shining on earth.

 **This is my first ever Fanfiction and I hope you liked it. I would really appreciate reviews and if you think that there is something that I should improve on, do tell me that too. This is going to be a rather long novel kind of thing so I will be writing new chapters every now and then. Thank you for reading.**

 **~Rain**


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

 **This is the updated version of this chapter because when I decided to continue this story, I also decided to polish the already published chapters. A big thank you to ChildofWolf and Jerenbee for reviewing and Deserttail and Jerenbee for following this story.**

"Wake up, mousebrain!" mewed Nettlekit, his eyes lit with excitement as he prodded Silverkit with his forepaw.

The silver-furred kit yawned and sat up, stretching her long legs and swishing her plumy tail irritably. She opened her eyes to reveal two dazzling leaf-green orbs which might have been beautiful if they hadn't been burning with anger and annoyance as she glared at her impatient littermate. "Can't a cat get a moment of sleep?" she grumbled as she washed her ears.

"Let's explore camp!" mewed Nettlekit, bouncing up and down excitedly. "Mistheart left the nursery so she won't see us."

"Of course Mistheart won't notice us gone and none of the other cats in the clearing are going to realise we're there," drawled Silverkit, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "And you look like an out of control rabbit, Nettlekit."

"I opened my eyes first so you should respect me more," retorted Nettlekit.

"What a magnificent achievement," she replied dryly, rolling her eyes.

Nettlekit was so proud of having opened his eyes first and had wanted to explore camp immediately. She sighed as she remembered the constant whines coming from annoying Nettlekit to explore camp when her eyes were still closed. However, Mistheart had said that Nettlekit had to wait for Silverkit and Pinekit to open their eyes as well.

Silverkit had opened her eyes shortly after Nettlekit but Pinekit was taking considerably longer and Silverkit was surprised that Nettlekit had not snuck out of the nursery yet. Then again, Nettlekit was anything but stealthy. He would charge all over the nursery and was so loud that prey from the other side of the forest would have heard him. And even if Nettlekit suddenly became stealthy overnight, there was no escaping Mistheart's eagle eyes.

At that moment, an elegant silver she-cat slipped into the nursery so silently that the kits would not have known she was there if they had not seen her.

"Mistheart!" they mewed excitedly.

"Don't make so much noise. You'll wake Pinekit," murmured Mistheart trying her best to be stern but unable to conceal her amusement at the kits.

"Sorry, Mistheart," mewed Silverkit disingenuously. If Mistheart had observed the insincerity in her kit's apology, she gave no sign.

Silverkit nudged Nettlekit, who was rolling his eyes, a blasé attitude written all over his face.

He apologized hastily but when he sensed that Mistheart was not paying attention, he threw an angry glare at his bossy and arrogant sister who had a knack for making him seem impudent with her impeccable manners. _She thinks she's so good,_ he thought scowling.

Silverkit bushed up her fur and narrowed her eyes till they were slits as she glared at her brother.

"Why don't you play together but just make sure that you don't disturb Pinekit," suggested Mistheart, sensing the mounting tension in the air.

"Let's playfight," proposed Nettlekit immediately, and didn't wait for a reply before throwing himself at Silverkit.

Silverkit saw him coming and dodged to the side neatly. Nettlekit landed on the ground on his four paws and whisked around, hissing playfully, all feelings of resentment forgotten. He charged at Silverkit raising his paw to swipe at her but she quickly unbalanced him the moment his paw was off the ground and knocked him to the ground, pinning him. Nettlekit attempted to wriggle out of Silverkit's hold but her grip was firm.

"I win again, Nettlekit," purred Silverkit haughtily, puffing up her chest with pride before releasing her hold on Nettlekit who stood up grumbling as he shook the dust out of his pelt.

"Someone definitely taught you how to fight so it wasn't fair," he pouted. "Who did anyway?"

"You can learn quite a bit by observing the apprentices practise," she replied.

"Instead of stomping around the nursery like a badger," she added mockingly.

Nettlekit growled and was about to pummel Silverkit with his paw when both of them heard purring from the other side of the nursery and pricked their ears to listen to what was going on.

"You've finally opened your eyes, Pinekit," purred Mistheart.

A small, dark brown-furred she-kit stood up, stretching her paws. She had dark green eyes which were flitting around the nursery as though trying to see everything as quickly as possible.

"These are your littermates, Silverkit and Nettlekit, Pinekit," mewed Mistheart glancing at the two littermates.

"Let's go and explore camp now," announced Nettlekit.

Pinekit turned to Mistheart.

"Can I?" she asked her moss-green eyes widening eagerly at the thought of exploring the camp.

"Of course you can," murmured Mistheart, giving the kits an affectionate nuzzle each before they bounded out of the nursery. She watched them leave, a warm, cosy fire crackling in her gaze.

Nettlekit had charged ahead as usual but Silverkit was padding alongside Pinekit who was gazing in awe at the canvas of colours around her. The trees were a variety of shades of green while the sky was a great expanse of azure dotted with magnolia clouds. As Pinekit looked at the earth underneath her paws, she was surprised to see how the same thing could have a different colour or feel at different places. When she observed the cats who were resting in their dens, sharing tongues or eating fresh-kill she could hardly believe the variety of pelt or eye colours that all the cats had

"I can't believe there is so much to see," purred Pinekit. "I wish I had opened my eyes earlier. Where should we go now?"

"Well, I think Nettlekit went to the elders' den so we should probably go there too," suggested Silverkit.

Pinekit nodded in agreement and the sisters bounded to the elders' den.

Nettlekit was already there and was telling the elders how he would be the best warrior in all the clans and become leader one day. The elders were looking on and it seemed as though Hazelclaw was trying hard not to laugh while Sunfur looked ready to shove moss into Nettlekit's mouth to shut him up.

Silverkit rolled their eyes at the arrogant furball's bragging.

"You do remember that I beat you earlier don't you, Nettlekit?" asked Silverkit innocently.

"Only because you watched the apprentices," countered Nettlekit.

"And who stopped you from doing the same?" retorted Sunfur irritably before Silverkit opened her mouth to respond.

Nettlekit seemed lost for words at the outright answer of the half-tailed elder.

"Could you please tell us a story?" requested Pinekit politely, sensing the tension in the air and Nettlekit's hopelessness.

"Of course," mewed Hazelclaw cordially. "How about the story of Firestar, the great Thunderclan leader a long time ago?"

"Yes please," mewed the kits simultaneously.

Hazelclaw complied and told the kits the story of Firestar and the kits listened intently as she told them about how he was a kittypet but became one of the greatest warriors in the clan.

"In the end, it doesn't matter where you're from. It's what you do that determines who you are," concluded Hazelclaw. "I mean just look at Firestar. He was a kittypet but he became leader and saved the clans from Tigerstar."

"Wow!" exclaimed Nettlekit. "I'll be just like Firestar and one day I'll become leader."

"Of course you will," snorted Sunfur grumpily.

Nettlekit, blissfully oblivious to the elder's sarcastic remark was ecstatic that the elder thought that he might become clan leader.

"Really?" asked Nettlekit, his eyes shining.

"Of course, dear," said Hazelclaw quickly, shooting Sunfur a warning glance.

The only reply that Hazelclaw got was a snort which she took to mean that the golden elder had understood her.

"Can you teach us the hunting crouch?" asked Silverkit suddenly.

"Sure," mewed Sunfur, a bright gleam in his eyes for the first time, and dropped into a perfect hunting crouch. "Why don't you kits try?"

Nettlekit and Silverkit immediately dropped to their paws in attempt to copy Sunfur's hunting crouch while Pinekit observed him for a short while before doing the same.

"This is not low enough Nettlekit. Your tail should be lower and your belly ought to be higher, Nettlekit, otherwise you are going to rustle all the leaves and create such a din that the prey will hear you coming from halfway across the forest. And balance properly for Starclan's sake. You look like a lopsided badger," snapped Sunfur grumpily.

"He has put his back legs in a rather good position for when he springs," Hazelclaw pointed out mildly.

Nettlekit tried his hardest to comply and his face turned purple as he crouched even closer to the ground and felt as though his paws were about to give way.

Sunfur moved on to Silverkit and gave a pleased purr. "Good job, Silverkit. Although your crouch will be better if you tuck your back legs in a little more," mewed Sunfur almost warmly for the half-tailed elder.

Silverkit complied almost effortlessly and both elders nodded approvingly. "You'll be an excellent hunter no doubt, Silverkit," purred Hazelclaw.

Silverkit glowed with pride at the elderly she-cat's praise.

Sunfur examined Pinekit and was moderately pleased.

"Your crouch is not bad, Pinekit but there is quite a lot of room for improvement," he explained as he went on to list her mistakes.

When Sunfur finally thought that the kits had had enough practice with the hunter's crouch he had let them leave the den. Silverkit had done it well enough that Sunfur had let her stop while he made Nettlekit and Pinekit continue and even when they were done, Sunfur insisted that Silverkit's was still far better and they really had to buck up if they ever wanted to become warriors. Hazelclaw had tried to point out to Sunfur that the kits had a long time in the nursery before they would start training and become warriors but Sunfur had insisted that the sooner the kits learnt the better.

The kits thanked the elders and left the pair to bicker amongst themselves in the den. Nettlekit was somewhat subdued as he shuffled behind Silverkit and Pinekit.

"Hello. You must be Mistheart's kits," came a silvery voice from behind.

The kits turned around to see a pretty dappled tortoiseshell she-cat, looking at them with bright amber eyes.

"I'm Flowertail," she introduced cheerily.

The kits introduced themselves and Flowertail started chatting with them merrily.

"You are so much like Mistheart you know, Silverkit. You look just like her and no doubt you'll be just as good a warrior as she is or maybe even better," mewed Flowertail fondly.

Silverkit was about to reply when a voice across the clearing called for Flowertail.

"Hey, Flowertail, can you stop gossiping and come on my hunting patrol. The fresh-kill pile's almost empty," called the deputy, Leaftail, loudly.

Flowertail pouted playfully and told the brown and white-furred she-cat that she would be there in a few heartbeats.

"Sorry kits, I have to go," sighed Flowertail apologetically as she bounded to the other side of the clearing to join Leaftail.

"Why does everyone always notice you and practically ignore me and Pinekit?" grumbled Nettlekit irritably. "What are we, invisible?"

"I don't think Flowertail meant to do that, Nettlekit. She would have talked to us too if Leaftail had not called her to go on patrol," mewed Pinekit, thoughtfully.

"Let's head back to the nursery," suggested Silverkit, noticing the growing silence.

Pinekit and Nettlekit didn't object so the three kits trooped back to the nursery where Mistheart would be waiting.

Suddenly, two young toms barrelled into Pinekit and Silverkit. Pinekit fell splat on her face and sat up, shaking the dust out of her fur and instantly begin licking her fur clean, barely bothered by the fact that she had just been knocked over. Silverkit, however, broke into a neat roll and sat up, hissing in annoyance at the two careless toms.

"Watch it," spat Silverkit furiously, her fur fluffed up in fury.

The golden tom looked at the two she-kits apologetically.

"We're sorry. We didn't mean it," he mewed sincerely.

He turned to the other tom who was observing the raging kit and nudged him gently.

"Oh right, sorry. Um… What should I call you?" Rockpaw mewed.

"I'm Silverkit and this is Pinekit," replied Silverkit icily. "And our brother, Nettlekit, is over there."

"I'm Lionpaw and this is Rockpaw. We were just having a race to see who's faster because this mouse-brain was boasting about how fast he was. We didn't mean to knock you over." explained Lionpaw.

'Who did you just call a mouse-brain?" hissed Rockpaw playfully as he swiped a paw at Lionpaw who simply ducked.

"Anyway, we have to go now, bye," mewed Lionpaw before racing away with his brother.

"That was certainly interesting," murmured Pinekit. "Let's go back now. Mistheart will be waiting."

The kits headed back to the nursery where Mistheart was talking to Sweetrose, her back turned to the entrance. Before the kits had even entered the nursery, Mistheart, sensing them, turned around and purred at the sight of them.

"How was camp?" asked Mistheart warmly.

"It was amazing, Mistheart! We met the elders and Flowertail and Lionpaw and Rockpaw and the elders taught us how to do the hunting crouch and they said mine was really good and then we met Lionpaw and Rockpaw and then we came back," jabbered Silverkit rapidly, barely containing her excitement.

"That's wonderful. What about you, Pinekit and Nettlekit?" she asked kindly.

"Well Silverkit and I got knocked down by Lionpaw and Rockpaw which was how we met them," she mewed.

Mistheart turned to Nettlekit who was strangely silent for the usually talkative tom whom she never had to ask about anything because he was normally already rattling on about everything that she might have wanted to ask him.

"I'm tired," he mewed as he stifled a yawn.

"All right, go to sleep kits, its already sundown. Then you can explore camp tomorrow as well." mewed Mistheart as she licked them lovingly.

The kits complied and curled up in their nest. Within moments they were fast asleep and they looked like little angels with their tails over their noses. _They're perfect,_ thought Mistheart. Mistheart went to sleep too and drew them closer to herself.

Moonlight filtered through the brambles at the entrance of the nursery, falling on Silverkit's fur and giving it a beautiful shine as though it was Starclan's way of saying that this kit had been singled out for a great fate.

 **So that's Chapter 1 of SilverLight. I hope you enjoyed reading it. Constructive criticism is very welcome. Silverkit will be a prodigy but she will definitely have her flaws so she won't** _ **purr**_ **fect. Sorry couldn't resist the pun. Now that I've polished the old chapters, I can't wait to start on the fresh ones. Anyway, I would really appreciate any reviews and thank you so much for reading!**

 **~Rain**


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

 **Hi! I know it's been a while since I last updated this story. I even discontinued it for a while but I have a new plot now which is better than the old one. I had to change the prophecy (New Prophecy:** **A silver star shall rise in the dark and in the darkness of night, she will start a spark. The slumbering army will wake and blood will run red in the lake.) But nothing of much importance has changed (only minor details here and there) so without further ado here's the chapter. And thank you to TheCrystallineWarrior and Drizzle the Rain Goddess for reviewing!**

The sunhigh heat beat down on the expanse of forest beneath it, the light creating dappled shadows on the leaf-littered forest floor. A gentle breeze swept through the land, leaving a cacophony of swirling, scraping dry leaves behind it. The breeze drifted lazily towards the Thunderclan camp, nestled cosily amongst the trees, carrying the scents of the forest along with it. The breeze filtered through the brambles of the nursery, and brushed pelts with the sleeping, mud-furred kit.

Pinekit awoke to the scent of dry leaves and fresh-kill. She let out a sleepy yawn before peeling back her eyelids to reveal two sparkling green orbs. She stood up, stretching her short, stubby legs and twisting her spine. With a few quick licks of her tongue, she smoothed down the fur where it had been ruffled by the wind.

She quickly glanced around the nursery, noticing that Sweetrose's and Skygaze's kits were still curled up and nestled together, a warm bundle of multi-coloured fur. Her spiky-furred brother was still fast asleep next to her, although his mouth was wide open as though he was scenting prey. _Perhaps he's dreaming of hunting prey_ , though Pinekit, her whiskers twitching with amusement.

 _If only she was here,_ thought Pinekit as she gazed at the air where her sister should have been sleeping. Three moons ago, she would have been concerned for her sister had she noticed she was gone but her sister's disappearances had become an everyday affair. Pinekit was rather curious as to where her sister slinked off to every day but any attempt to figure out was usually met with complaints of tiredness or pure annoyance which led to her not getting an answer.

Silverkit had been completely neglecting Nettlekit and her. All that Pinekit ever saw of her was a flash of a silver, plumy tail vanishing behind the nursery walls if Pinekit happened to wake up at dawn. The thought of whether Silverkit even cared about her littermates frequently crossed her mind and Pinekit had stopped trying to believe it wasn't true because everything that Silverkit did always seemed to point back at it like a web leading back to the spider at its centre. Silverkit had stopped playing with Nettlekit and her for so long that Pinekit wasn't even sure when was the last time she actually had.

A small part of her told her that since Silverkit no longer treated her like her littermate, she had no reason to treat Silverkit like one either but there was still a part of her that longed for the affection and concern of her littermate. She wanted so badly to forget that her sister ever existed and sometimes couldn't help but think, although she frequently chided herself for it, that it would have been better to have a dead sister than a living ghost. _But I don't want Silverkit to die no matter what she does_ , thought Pinekit in the spirit of loyalty to her clanmate and littermate. But the guilt that it was something she might have done that drove Silverkit away always nagged at her and stayed ever present in her mind.

"If only I had been born to Sweetrose or Skygaze," sighed Pinekit softly, casting a glance towards the sleeping kits. "At least they have each other."

Goldenkit was Sweetrose's sole surviving kit with the same pelt colour as her mother but amber eyes like her father, Cedarwhisker. Sweetrose had given birth to two other kits but they had joined Starclan mere heartbeats after their birth and Sweetrose had followed them to the stars. Skygaze had kitted as well, giving birth to three strong, healthy kits. She had named her two she-kits, Sweetkit and Rosekit, in honour of the deceased queen while the tom was Greykit, after his pelt colour. The four kits had grown immensely close, as close as littermates, which made Pinekit more morose when she saw that the kits weren't even bonded by blood yet were closer than she was to her sister. Rosekit had caught greencough and died and the kits had all mourned her and missed her. It often broke Pinekit's heart to hear them call out to Rosekit as they woke to realise that was gone.

Pinekit couldn't help but wonder if Silverkit would miss Nettlekit and her in the same way if they joined Starclan. Silverkit was becoming just another clanmate to her now. An invisible clanmate that she knew existed but never saw.

A furry lump landing on Pinekit caused her to snap out of her thoughts as she crashed to the floor in a heap.

"Stupid mouse-brain," squealed Pinekit as she shoved her brother off. "You've gotten heavier. Must be because you've been eating too many mice recently."

"Do you want to play mossball?" asked Nettlekit, ignoring the last bit of what his sister had said to him, as he picked up one in his jaws and dropped it in front of his sister.

"Sure," responded Pinekit, the longing in her voice and mind vanishing temporarily.

"Hello, Rockpaw," mewed Silverkit as she approached the dark grey tom who was lying on his side in the apprentices' den. "Don't you have training to do?"

"I practised fighting at night with Nightclaw yesterday and she was quite pleased with me so she gave me some time off," he replied stretching lazily.

"Oh… I see," she mewed, understanding glowing in her inquisitive green eyes. "Sorry I disturbed you. I'll go now then."

"It's fine, Silverkit," mewed Rockpaw warmly and murmuring affectionately he said. "You can stay. I'd like you to."  
"Thank you, Rockpaw," mewed Silverkit as she sat down opposite Rockpaw. "So what new battle moves has Nightclaw taught you?"

"Well," mewed Rockpaw, pride creeping into his voice. "I've perfected the back kick."

"Really?" asked Silverkit, her eyes wide. "Can you show me?"

"Of course," replied the tom instantly, his eyes lighting up with pride and eagerness. "Let's go outside first."

The two went outside into the clearing where Silverkit sat down next to the entrance of the apprentice's den while Rockpaw stood next to a fallen twig.

"Let's assume that this twig is the enemy and that I'm behind it," he said.

Rockpaw whisked around, turning his back to the 'enemy'. He did something that resembled a hop until he was neatly but briefly balanced on his front paws while his back paws simultaneously kicked out. He landed deftly on four paws and turned around to face the 'enemy' which would have been cleanly knocked off its paws and thrown a fox-length back had it received that move.

"And that's the back kick," he announced proudly, turning back to face Silverkit whose eyes were wide with wonder and amazement.

"Wow, you were so good," said Silverkit sweetly, letting a hint of admiration enter her voice. "Can you teach me how to do that?"

"Of course," replied Rockpaw warmly. "So first of all…"

Silverkit returned to the nursery, worn out by attempting to learn the back kick. Her forepaws ached from trying to balance her whole weight on them and she hadn't even been able to move onto the kicking part because she was still having trouble balancing stably on her forepaws. She had wanted to try the whole thing but Rockpaw had told her that she had to perfect her balance otherwise she would be very easy to beat if she fell onto the ground which would lose her any element of surprise that she might have previously held.

Just as she had started making progress on the move, Nightclaw had taken Rockpaw to the forest to train. Resentment raked her belly like claws as she hissed insults aimed towards Nightclaw under her breath for disrupting her practice.

Silverkit grabbed a large, fresh vole from the fresh-kill pile unconcerned that it was too big for her to eat in a single sitting and harbouring no intention to share it. She sank her fangs into the still warm body of the vole. When she normally ate, she would let the taste sink into her taste buds and savour every mouthful as a gift from Starclan. The prey was her closest connection to the forest that she was forbidden to go to and she would relish the woodland scents and tastes attached to it. The scents and tastes seemed to weave a story. The story of the prey in its last moments of life. The story that always ended in a warrior knocking the life out of it. But this time, she drove her fangs into the meat with anger fuelling her, as though the vole was a punching bag for her to take out her rage on. She didn't bother to pick up the scents attached to it and the fishy tang that belonged to the river where the vole had once resided lay in oblivion.

Silverkit stormed back to the nursery, her rough and huffy gait dissipating till she entered the nursery, leisurely strolling. She slickly slid herself into her nest and devoured a large, meaty chunk from the vole. Her clumsy and brash bite left blood dripping from her mouth and onto the fur above her chin. She felt and smelt the blood, the metallic tang paralysed her with a kind of dread but the sense of power was much more overpowering. _When I fight cats as a warrior, their blood will drip onto my fur, staining it red with the blood of my enemies,_ she thought to herself feeling wonder and a sudden thirst yet alarm at the thought of fighting cats and drawing blood, the life-giving fluid that filled veins.

 _Stupid Nightclaw_ , thought Silverkit. _How am I to defend my clan if I'm not allowed to learn how to fight?_ Silverkit's fur prickled with annoyance and displeasure

An elegant silver she-cat, an older version of Silverkit slipped into the nursery. Her green eyes glowed with curiosity and concern as she felt the unhappiness and irritation emanating from Silverkit's pelt.

"What's the matter?" asked Mistheart, concern flooding her voice.

"Nothing," snapped Silverkit crossly, disregarding any respect that she ought to have.

"I'm your mother and you can tell me anything you know," mewed Mistheart unperturbed by her daughter's insolence and more lightly she added. "Besides, you're behaving like a grumpy old badger."

Silverkit muttered something almost inaudible about 'stupid Nightclaw and she-cats who poked their noses everywhere'.

Mistheart, however, heard it and narrowed her eyes slightly in annoyance. "You should show some respect to your clanmates who hunt and patrol every day to keep you fed and safe."

"I'll do a better job than them when I become a warrior," growled Silverkit, digging her claws into the moss covering her nest.

"Speaking of which, you shouldn't be learning to fight and hunt," said Mistheart presently. "You should be spending time with your littermates."

"Yeah, I would totally want to spend time with Loserkit and Stupidkit," she snapped sarcastically.

"They are your littermates and they care about you," repeated Mistheart. "You should spend time with them and do what normal kits do. Not be learning how to hunt and fight when you're just a kit and call your littermates names."

"You just don't want me to be better than them," snapped Silverkit, the fur along her back standing on end.

Hurt flashed in Mistheart's voice. "Why would I want that, Silverkit?"

"How would I know?" she growled back, her gaze crackling with fury.

Mistheart gave a wistful sigh and for a moment it looked as though she was going to break down but she composed herself and turned to face her impudent daughter. "I love you, dear, and I always want the best for you. Always."

Silverkit snorted and stormed out of the nursery, hurling barely audible curses at her mother under her breath. Mistheart watched as she left, her head drooping like a wilted flower. "Starclan, what do I do with her?" wailed Mistheart silently desperate as to what to do with her daughter.

"I beat Rockpaw every single time during battle training today," announced Lionpaw, making no effort to limit his voice to the apprentices' den, instead letting it resonate around the clearing, as he made his way into the den where Featherpaw and Deerpaw were already sharing tongues.

Rockpaw trailed behind him an exhausted yet affectionate smile on his face although on closer inspection it seemed almost forced.

Lionpaw crashed into his nest, stretching his tired muscles while Rockpaw slid into his own much more quietly.

"How was your training today?" asked Rockpaw discreetly trying to change the topic, whilst stifling a yawn.

"That old badger insists that my tree-climbing isn't good enough and made me climb trees the whole afternoon," replied Featherpaw irritably, flicking her tail. "At this rate, I'm going to become a squirrel by the time he's satisfied with my tree-climbing."

"Firestorm, you mean?" yawned Lionpaw.

"Nope, it was Dewberry," scoffed Featherpaw. "Of course it's Firestorm."

"Well, you almost fell out of the tree _twice_ ," reminded Deerpaw, her eyes twinkling.

"It was the wind," replied Featherpaw, blushing.

"A warrior doesn't blame anyone or anything else for his mistakes," said Deerpaw in a poor imitation of Firestorm. "You should learn how to climb even with the supposed wind blowing at you."

Lionpaw and Rockpaw burst out laughing and were quickly followed suite by Deerpaw. Featherpaw's whiskers twitched with amusement but before long she lost her composure and was laughing as well. The four different voices rang out, unison in their laughter despite no attempt at coordination having been made. It was simply the togetherness of friendship as they exchanged the day's news. _I wish I had friends like that_ , thought Silverkit wistfully as she gazed into the apprentices' den from the clearing.

As Deerpaw was laughing along with the others, her belly aching with the effort, she noticed a pair of green eyes burning with longing, their gaze fixed on the apprentices' den.

"Want to come in, Silverkit?" called Deerpaw cheerfully as she shook herself to regain her composure.

Silverkit nodded silently, casting a grateful glance towards the apprentice and bounded into the den.

"You can sit here," added Deerpaw, motioning towards the space next to her.

"Thank you," said Silverkit as she sat down and pricked her ears to listen to the apprentices' conversation.

There was a moment of brief silence in the den but Lionpaw swiftly put an end to it.

"So as I was saying earlier before my favourite brother over here changed the topic," declared Lionpaw proudly. "I beat Rockpaw every single time."

"You told us that already," grumbled Featherpaw irately, slapping him lightly with her tail.

"Yes I did but I didn't tell you that Nightclaw and Blueclaw said that I fought really well," retorted Lionpaw, although his tone was considerably happier than it was annoyed. "Nightclaw said that I fought like a warrior and then Blueclaw said that it wouldn't be long now anyway."

"What?" squealed Featherpaw and Deerpaw excitedly, leaping to their paws.

"But don't they always say that we'll be warriors anytime soon," pointed out Rockpaw dolefully. "Besides, for cats as old as them, what's two moons?"

"Why do you need to take the fun out of everything, Rockpaw?" whined Lionpaw, pouting childishly. "Is it because I beat you? Don't take it too badly, Rockpaw. Some cats are just more talented at certain things."

Rockpaw eyes flashed with hurt and he seemed like he was going to say something but he choked back the words. Featherpaw's gaze crackled with rage as she spat fire at him in the form of harsh criticism while Deerpaw murmured softly to Rockpaw trying to comfort him.

"You've been an absolute piece of fox-dung towards Rockpaw ever since he beat you when you two went hunting," screeched an irate Featherpaw as she puffed up her fur and looked daggers at Lionpaw who was surreptitiously shrinking away. "He's your littermate for Starclan's sake and he didn't make such a big fuss when he did better than you! All you've been doing lately is trying to prove that you're better than him at every single thing!"  
Lionpaw didn't reply. Instead he just continued backing up while keeping his eyes fixed on the floor in front of him until he reached the wall.

"It doesn't matter what he says, Rockpaw," comforted Deerpaw quietly. "You're a fantastic hunter and a wonderful cat."

"Thank you, Deerpaw," replied Rockpaw his voice a little stronger and flooded with appreciation and a hint of affection as well. His eyes lit up almost jovially as he continued, trying to lighten the atmosphere. "We should probably help my brother before your sister devours him alive."

"Featherpaw, it's okay," coaxed Rockpaw. More lightly and airily he added. "Thank you for standing up for me but I'm sure things will be fine."

Featherpaw narrowed her eyes till they were slits at glared at Lionpaw but settled back down in her nest although her fur remained on end and her ears twitched incessantly.

Silverkit's blood was boiling as well. Rockpaw was one of her few friends and both Featherpaw and Deerpaw had tried to help Rockpaw after Lionpaw's words but she had just sat there and watched everything happen. She wanted to prove to Rockpaw that she cared about him just as much and was willing to help him.

Silverkit stood up, her eyes blazing as she fixed her gaze on Lionpaw. "I challenge you to a duel."

Lionpaw stared at her, his eyes widening in surprise, as though she had sprouted wings. He gave a snort of laughter. "Run along now back to the nursery. You'll only beat me when hedgehogs fly."

Silverkit sheathed and unsheathed her claws. Fury coursed through her veins and her primal, animalistic instinct was urging her to claw that smirk off his face.

"I'll beat you alright, Lionpaw," she hissed, her eyes which were now slits fixed on him, blazing with anger, as though she hoped to set him on fire with her wrath, just by looking at him.

"She doesn't know what she's talking about," interrupted Featherpaw authoritatively with a tone suggesting finality. "Let's go back to the nursery. You're just tired. That's all."

"She's right," murmured Rockpaw shrewedly. "There's no need to do anything rashly."

"No, I'm not going to back down," growled Silverkit, turning her death stare to the other apprentices before returning it to Lionpaw. "If I beat you, you have to leave Rockpaw alone and never be mean to him again."

"Of course," drawled Lionpaw breezily as though he could do it in his sleep.

Featherpaw tried to convince Lionpaw that he didn't need to prove anything but in the end, just asked him to do it quickly without hurting her when both of them refused to let go of their pride and stubbornness.

"Let's begin then, Silverkit," declared Lionpaw. "She-cats first."

His blasé attitude and the arrogant sparkle in his eyes made the rage in her blood pump even faster as she leaped at him, using her momentum to knock him to the floor. She felt a rush of adrenaline as she deftly pummelled her paws against him, her fury giving her blows greater strength and speed. Lionpaw raised his paws to block the blows but his movements were slow and sluggish compared to her own. Lionpaw fell to the ground as she rammed into him with all her strength and Silverkit leaped onto him pinning his larger, bulky frame as firmly as she could hope to with her smaller body.

"I win," she smirked, panting, her eyes shining with triumph as she looked into Lionpaw's amber ones that ought to be flooded with defeat, except that they weren't.

Lionpaw leaped to his paws swiftly, throwing Silverkit off as though she wasn't heavier than a mouse and she probably wasn't for him. He turned to Silverkit who was picking herself up, growling with anger and hate. She charged at him, certain that she could beat him just as she had done a few heartbeats ago but Lionpaw sidestepped nimbly and rammed her to the floor with his shoulder before she even realised what he was doing. He pinned her to the floor, his grip firmly holding her in place, a stark contrast from when she had attempted to pin him previously.

"You were saying," purred Lionpaw loftily as he watched the silver kit struggle to get free underneath his paws.

"You cheated," spat Silverkit, not struggling any less to escape the tom's grip. Her voice began to break and tears welled up in her eyes as she choked. "It wasn't fair."

"It was stupid of you to think that you had any chance whatsoever if beating me," he mocked as he lifted his paws and Silverkit scrambled to her paws and scurried out of the den towards the nursery without a sound apart from her sniffing like a piece of prey would if a warrior released it from under his paws.

All the kits and queens were already in the den, fast asleep, their chests rhythmically rising and falling. Silverkit made a beeline for her nest and curled up in it instantly, squeezing her eyes shut. _It wasn't fair_ , she thought, sniffling silently. _I shouldn't have bothered to help Rockpaw because this is what happens if I try to be nice and it was all Rockpaw's fault that I lost because he didn't teach me well,_ she thought bitterly in an attempt to comfort herself, unwilling to believe that any of it was her fault.

Boiling tears threatened to leak out of her closed eyelids as she sobbed softly. _I'll get him back for it_ , she told herself incessantly as she lulled herself to sleep with that sole thought on her mind.

 **I really hope you enjoyed it! Sorry that the update times are so long. I will try my best to update more frequently though. I was really hoping to bring out the flaws in her character in this chapter but I apologise if the last part was too dramatic. I have no intention of making her a Mary-sue as I really dislike them myself. (Brokenstar (from the depths of the Dark Forest): Death to Mary-sues!) Also do you feel that her flaws are evident enough? The exciting stuff should (hopefully) start in the next chapter. I would really appreciate a review and constructive criticism is very welcome. Thanks for reading! Bye! And Merry Christmas to those of you who celebrate it!**

 **~Rain**


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

 **Author's Note: Hi! I'm sorry that I've been taking so long to update. I've been really busy lately and can't find much time to update. But I'm still going to continue this story. So here's the chapter.**

Dewberry blinked as her eyes adjusted to the dim light. The sky overhead was a vast blanket of silvery-grey clouds without a speck of blue. The thought of where she was had barely formed in her mind when she realised that her forepaws were churning water and her back legs were kicking out in neat, swift strokes, keeping her afloat.

"Why am I floating?" wondered Dewberry aloud.

The words were barely out of her mouth when she realised that she was in the middle of the lake, a vast expanse of glassy blue ending in sandy ground with the clans' territories beyond. There was something about the place that felt odd. _Something is not right about this place_ , thought Dewberry to herself, her muscles tensing slightly as she wondered what was going on.

Her muscles were gradually starting to tire and she wondered how long she had been keeping herself afloat in the water. It didn't seem like time existed in this place because it was completely silent and still except for her and several logs gliding like ghosts on the water's surface. There wasn't the slightest breeze and the place was devoid of scents. Spying one of the logs drifting through the water that was relatively closer to her, Dewberry paddled towards it, eager to get her fur dry and relax her paws that were starting to ache with the effort. She dimly wondered where she had learned how to swim but the thought simply melted away a heartbeat after it came to her mind and she thought no more about it.

As Dewberry approached the log, she faintly noticed that it was shaped like a cat but continued on her course, unperturbed. It was only when she was a fox-length away from the log that she noticed scarlet streaks painted across its surface. As she got a tail-length closer, she realised that the log wasn't a muddy brown as it should have been but grey with splashes of white, or at least that was all Dewberry was able to discern underneath the coat of crimson. Another tail-length closer and the grey and white medicine cat found her heart filling with dread. She wasn't sure what it was but something inside her told her to get away from it. As far away as she possibly could from what she was starting to distinctly recognise was not a log.

Dewberry tried to whisk around and paddle away in the opposite direction but to no avail. As she gradually drew closer to it, a mouse-length at a time, she tried harder and harder to get away from it but it seemed to exert its own gravitational pull on her, drawing her closer and closer with every passing heartbeat. She squeezed her eyes shut, afraid of what she might see next and sent a silent prayer to Starclan begging for help.

She didn't know whether an eternity had passed or just a few heartbeats but she realised that she had reached it and that Starclan was as silent as her prayer had been. She drew in a deep breath, letting her lungs fill with crisp air and a little courage, and opened her eyes apprehensively, tentatively reaching out a paw to find out what it was. Soft fur greeted her paw but there was something wrong about it. It was wet and sticky. She drew back her paw in surprise and fear and examined it. Her eyes widened with terror when she saw her paw pad stained red. Red with blood, she realised as the overpowering metallic tang filled her nostrils. She gasped and her breath came in broken, ragged gulps.

Steeling herself, she let her paws rest on the bloodied fur before pushing gently to turn the still, lifeless body.

Blank, green eyes met her blue ones and she opened her jaws wide to scream but there was only silence. Her whole body was screaming, screaming that this couldn't be possible. Her heart began palpitating so wildly that it should have broken free from her. It beat rapidly as though it was trying to pump the life-giving liquid through the lifeless, cold body of the still she-cat whose empty eyes bore into Dewberry's. To bring her back. But it was in vain for she stayed still as ever. Dewberry stared at the empty, green eyes of her sister, Snowpelt, devoid of any emotion or life. Dead, just like their owner was.

"Snowpelt," choked Dewberry, her voice flooded with pain, a pain greater than any that claws and fangs could cause which struck and ravaged her soul.

Snowpelt's beautiful grey and white fur was barely visible under the crimson coat of blood. A grisly wound stretched across her neck, a river of blood flowing freely from it, turning the water a nauseating pink.

Dewberry stay frozen in place, unable to move, shock and fear numbing her. Her gaze flitted around the lake, looking at the now distinctively cat-shaped bodies she had assumed were logs. Tears seeped into her eyes and she stifled a sob. The water had a pink tint to it. Tinted with the blood of the cats. The revolting coral spread throughout the water and before long the once blue lake began steadily turning red.

Dewberry didn't dare to look at the other cats, afraid of what she would see. Afraid that every cat she had ever known and loved would be floating lifelessly on the water's surface, a fountain of blood ensuing from them.

Dewberry suddenly pricked her ears at the sound of purring for it was the first sound she had heard apart from herself in this place. She scanned her surroundings, unsure whether she was supposed to be relieved or fearful that she wasn't alone in this place.

Dewberry paddled her paws to face the direction where the purr had originated from. Her paws were heavy and she barely felt them as she did so. A silver tabby she-cat had her eyes fixed on her, her hungry gaze unsettling Dewberry. Her leaf-green eyes were wild with excitement and anticipation and her fangs and claws were stained red with blood.

Dewberry felt sick to her stomach at the sound of the she-cat's soft, crooning purr. How could any cat be so oblivious to the many bleeding dead cats around her let alone be delighted as the she-cat appeared to be?

The she-cat approached the water's edge, her hungry gaze fixed on Dewberry. Dewberry's eyes shone with fear and she tried to move but she couldn't. The she-cat was about to slip into the water when she paused, a smirk making its way onto her face.

Dewberry gave a screech as something dragged her down under the bloody water. Whatever had done it was swift and had deftly pulled her head underneath the surface. She opened her jaws to cry for help but the scarlet water surged into her mouth and filled her lungs. Her lungs were burning, screaming for sweet oxygen. She flailed her paws desperately, trying to break above the water's surface unsuccessfully.

Her vision was darkening, blackness framing her sight. Her limbs felt heavy and her last, frantic movements sluggish. Dewberry tried to think, think what she should do but she couldn't. Her mind was blank and light. She couldn't feel or hear or see anything anymore. Darkness welcomed her after she made her last feeble stroke.

 **Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed it even though it was shorter than usual. I'd really appreciate reviews and constructive criticism. Thanks for reading!**

 **~Rain**


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